Apparatus for molding porcelain-ware.



No. 894,623.` PATENTED JULY 28, 1908.

\ GEISBNHNER. y

` APPARATUS FOR MOLDING PORCELAIN WARE.

APPLICATION FILED JULY 25, 1904.A

- 4 SHEETS-*SHEET 1.

MII.

IIN"- Witne sses 10.894,623. PATENTED JULY 2s, 190s.

H. GEISENHNBR- APBARATUS PoR MOLDING PORCELAIN WARE.

APPLICATION FILED JULY 25, 190.4.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

` lnoerjtoh:

PATENTED JULY 28, 1908.

H. GBISENHNER. APPARATUS POR MOLDING PORCELAIN WARE.

APPLICATION IILD JULY 245, 1904.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

Inventor: Henry Geisenh'cjne" by Q ftty.

No. 894,623. v PATENTED JULY 28, 1908.

I H. GEIsENHN-BRL l APPARATUS POR MOLDING PORCELAIN WARE.

l APPLICATION FILED JULY 25, 1904. I

\ 4 SHEETS-SHEET 4.

75%6/7/4? Wg, Hemp Geienhne I 'OB/MMV UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

HENRY GEVISENVHNER, OF SCHENECTADY, ,NEW YORK, ASSIGNOR TO yGENERALELECTRIC g o01S/1PA1\IY,A CORPORATION` oF NEwYoRK.

1i1 1a1wrrus Fon nomme IfoRcELAIN-WARE.

Patented .my 2s, 190s.

appresa@ mea July 25, 1904. serial N6. z'laoee.

To all. whom it may concern: i.

Be 1t known that I, HENRYLGEISENHNER,

`a citizen of the United` States, residing atr Schenectady, in thecounty of Schenectady, State of New York, have invented'certain new anduseful Iml rovements in Apparatus for Molding Porce ain-Ware,pof whichthe following is a specification.` a

The present invention relates to the art of manufacturing porcelain andanalogous Ware, and more particularly to the a paratus for molding andcompressing the clay or other substance into the desired forms with thenecessary degree'of compactness.

logous wareI which shall successfully erformV 'Heretofore the apparatusalmostl universally employed in molding and compressing clay or othermaterial into the desired shapes has consisted of a simple pressprovided with a mold or female die and a relatlvely-movable male die,and in the use of which all the operations of supplying the mold withthe mate-v rial to be operated upon, actuation 'of the press, removal ofthe product, and cleaning and oiling of thedies, have beenperformed byhand. As a consequence of this largeautomatically the operations of deivering the material'operated upon to the molds, compressing it to theproper degree therein, ejecting'the product from themolds andcleaningand oiling the dies preparatoryto refilling.

The invention will be readily understood by reference to the followingdescription and the accompanying drawings forming a part of thisspecification, in which Figure 1 is a front sectional elevation of amolding machine embodying one form of my invention; Fig. 2 is aperspective view of the machine to the right of the elevation shown 'inFig.1;Fig..3 is av sectional detail of the compressorplunger; Fig. 4r isa development of the cams for actuating4 the movab been made at tion ofthe female dies to eject the product; Figs.- 5 and 6 are ajplan andelevation of the hopper; Fig. 7 is a top plan of the apparatus; Fig. 8is a broken plan section at the lower endof the base showing the *gearand table o erating arrangements; and Fig. 9 is a sectional detailshowing the means for temporarily locking the male and female membersof' the mold together.

The apparatus shown in the drawings comprises a circular" table A u onwhlch are mounted a series of molds and which is adapted to be rotatedstep-by-step about a central sup orting column C .upon which are mounteIan oil reservoir D and comressed air connections for cleaning and oilmgthe. dies, a hopper E for holding the material operated upon anddelivering it to the molds, and a compressing meansF provided with areciprocating male die, the operations of which are so timed withrelationy to the successivemovements Iof the table that it ,descendeupon the material Within a mold, compresses it and retracts therefromwhile t the table is at re'st. The molds B are each provided with amovable bottom connected t0 an eje'cting plunger G arranged to coper-`The base I-I, ,which constitutes the ylower `ate with 'cams or inclinessecured tothe cy` `lindrical sides of the base H in such positions .thatthel plunger is caused to rise succeeding the compression of thematerial in the mol member of the central support, isprovided with aradial flange and supported on conical segments or legs from a floorplate, and 1n the s ace betweenrthe bottom of the base and oor plate anelectric motor J is arranged and o eratively geared to a Verticaldriveshaft by means of which motion 1s communicated to the severaloperating arts.

cylindrical lower end which fits tightly in the cylindrical body part 1'of the base, and has at its end an internal flan e 4 which is connectedby bolts 5 to the s oulder 3, and by bolts 6 to a concentric bearingblock? for the main shaft K. The cylindrical section-of theVsupporting-column extends somewhat above. 'the-upper end of the bodypart 1 of the base to a shoulderx8 formed thereon, vwhereby a Iisconducted by a tube 13from the outside of the column, and at its upperend the shaftv has fixed thereto a bevel gear 14 by means of lsubstantie which motion is communicated to the compressing means F.

The' compressing means comprises a reciprocating plunger 15 guided forfree vertical reciprocation in bearing blocks 16 and 17 se.- curedrespectively to the side of the column C and to the bearing block 11,and actuated b a link 18 pivoted at one end to a pivot blbck 19 carriedby the plunger 15, and at the other to a crank pin 2() carried by a disk21 secured to a shaft 22 which is journaled in bearings 23 and 24 at theends of arms pro- 'ecting fromopposite` sides of the bearing lock 11,and rovided with a bevel gear 25 meshing wit gear 14. The plunger 15comprises an upper cylindrical section 26 and a lower olygonal section27 secured by screw-threa s and a lock-nut 28, whereby the lower sectionmay be adjusted toward or fromthemolds. The lower section 27 is providedwith a cylindrical cavity 29, in which is.

located a stiff helical spring 30 which thrusts against the head`31 of ashort polygonal bolt 32, which is capable of vertica movement inapolygonal gulde box 33 secured to the bottom of the section 27. Thebolt 32 is screwthreaded at its lowerend into a head 34 to which themale die 35 .is detachably connected by set-screws 36. This springconnection between-plunger and die' provides for a certain flexibilityof parts whereby the material operated upon is compressed 'to a yuniform degree, even thou h its amount and quality as delivered to t emoldmay vary. p The lower bearing block 16 for the reciprocating plungerisprovided with poly onal bearing surfaces corresponding to the povgonal section 27, and the upperl bearing block 17 is provided vwith aslotted intermediate portion 37 for the passage of the link 18therethrough.

The hopper E is made of sheet iron with concentric cylindrical sidewalls and rounded ends, as shown yin Figs. 5 and 6, and is connected tothe side of the supporting column C by flexible brackets 38. l

The bottom of the hopper consists of an inclined Slate 39 secured to itssidewalls and extends 'agonallyto the plane of the lower end thereof,'and intersecting therewith at a point somewhat removed from the leading'end of the hopper, so that an o ening 40, as

large or larger than the mout of a mold,

is provided for the free assage of the clay when a mold ispresentecltherebeneath. 1n order to prevent the escape ofthe clay fromthe hopper,.when the opening 40 is not alined with a mold, a circularretaining plate 41, having holes formed therein to fit about the upperend of the molds, is secured to the table A with its upper surface inthe plane of the tops of the molds B, so that it may rotate in immediatecontact with the lower end of the hopper and the clay in the opening 40.To prevent the mass of clay from arching in the hop er, the latter iscaused to vibrate slightly y' providing small elevations 42 in thesurface of the plate 41 and the holpper with a roll 43 arranged in thepath of t ic elevations, so that as each elevation 42 passestherebeneath the hopper is flexed upwardly and allowed to drop back.

The means for cleaning the dies and applying air theretov com rises aclosed oil reservoir mounted upon t e side of the supporting column Cand connected at its lower end to a suitable valve 45, to one end ofwhich is connected a pipe 46 connected to some `'suitable `aircompressor (not shown), and at the other end to two `delivery ipes 47and 48 leading down on'opposite si es of the column C, and provided attheir ends with spraying nozzles 49 and 50, one of which is arranged todeliver the oil and air to the under surface of the male die 35, and theother to deliver the mixture to the upper surface of the fcmale die. Thevalve 45 is automatically opened and closed by a crank 51 fixed to thevalve spindle at one end, and connected at the other end by a pin andslot arrangement 52 to the pivot block 19 of the compressing means. y

The table A com rises a hub 9 journaled upon the cylindrica lower end ofthe column C between the shoulder 8 and the upper end of the cylindricalpart 1 of the base H, a radial flange 53 integral with the hub 9 andprovided with a series of vertical apertures 54 and posts 55, to thelower ends of which a ratchet, ring -56 is secured in position justabove the upper surface of 'the flan e 2 of the base. The molds B aredetachab y secured to the upper surface of the table about the apertures:54, and are provided with mova le members 57, which normally rest uponkvtable in line with the apertures 54 and provided with side slots 61,throu h which roller pins 62 connected to the p ungers G'project intothe path of thecams 63 and 64 sup- `pIorted on the cylindrical surfaceofthe base The lower ends of the ,vertical guide blocks 60 are turnedoff square to engage and rest upon a shoulderedsurface 6,5 formed on thetop side ofthe flange of the base H for a short space on the side of themachine at which they compressing o eration is performed. A petticoat orsliie'ld 66'of sheet metalis secured tothe outer periphery of the tableA toy protect the operativejparts b eneath it from particles-of clay. i4

The main drive-shaftn K yreceives motion through al spur gear 67 fastupon its lower end, and meshing with a corresponding gear 68 fast upon ashort shaft 69 journaled in a bracket 70 depending from the bottom ofthe base H, and-provided at its lower end with a worm wheel 71 which isdriven by a Worm 72 on the shaft 73 of themotor J. A hand wheel 74 isfastened to the outerend of the shaft 73 to enable the apparatus 'to beworked by hand when setting up or cleaning. 4The means for rotating thetable A stepby-step comprises a bell crank lever 75 pivoted at 76 to theunderside of the base H, and carrying at its outer end a springpressedpawl` or hook 77 adapted to engage the teeth 78 of the ratchet ring 56.The in-` ner end of the lever 75 ivotally engages one end of a link 79,whic is Aconnected at its other end to a crank pin 80 carried in a plate81 secured to the lower side of the gear 67.

As will appear on inspection, the lever 75 is u arranged to be actuatedonce for each revolution ofthe drive-shaft K, and' the compressingme nsF is also arranged to1 make. a complete reciprocation for eachrevolution of the drive-shaft, so that for eachoperation of compressionthere will be a corresponding movement of the table A. The -parts arearranged, however, so that the table is caused to rotate while the maledie is in its uppermost position and remains stationary while the maledie is in operative relation to the molds. y i

In orderto lock thetable in exact posi-f tion after each partialrevolution, a spring-` pressed bolt 82 having a ointed noseadapt-f ed toenter the recessat t e ratchet teeth' 78, is sup orted in a bracket 83secured to the side o the base H in the plane of the ratchet ring 56. lY

In ordergto lock the male and female members 35 and 57 of the moldstogether until the molded porcelain bat is out of the mold cavity andthereby prevent the formation of f,

cracks and air holes in the porcelain, I connect to the blocks 84 attheupper ends of plungers G upright rods 85 having attheir upper ends eads86 carryin transverse pins 87, and to the lower ends o the polygonalsections 27 of the plungers 15 I provide arms 88, upon the rear ends ofwhich are i clamped pivot blocks 89 carrying latches I90 normallypressed into enga ing positions by springs 91. The lower en s of thelatches are. arranged to snap over pins 87 and their upper ends have camfaces 92 arranged to What I claim Vas new and desire to secure byLetters Patent of the United States, is-

1. In an'apparatus of the class described, the combinatio'nof a centralsupport, a table provided with a series of molds and mounted to rotateabout said central support, coinpressing means mounted upon said supportand adapted tovcoperate successively with the said molds, and adrive-shaft journaled concentrically of said support and having at itsupper end gear connection with a counter-- shaft for actuating saidcompressing means and at its lower end a crank connection with pawl andratchet means for intermittently actuating said table.

2.- In an apparatus of the class described,

the' combination of a support, a table mounted"x to rotate on saidsupport and provided with a series of molds having movable bottoms, areciprocating device for compressing the materia operatedu'pon into saidmolds, means for reciprocating said movable bottoms of the molds,spraying devices located in the respective paths of the molds andcompressing device, and means for intermittently delivering air underpressure to said spraying devices to remove particles adhering to saidmold bottoms and reciprocating device when in retracted position.4

3. Inan apparatus of the class described, the combination of a movabletable provided with a series of molds, areciprocating ated upon intosaid molds successively, an oil reservoir under fluid pressure, sprayingdevices connected thereto and located in the device for compressing thematerial oper- 4 paths of said reciprocating device and said i molds,and a valve for controlling the flow of oil and pressure Huid connectedtobe intermittently operated by said reciprocating device.

ported in the plane of the ends of said molds and provided with a seriesof elevations, and a hopper for the material operated upon havingitsdelivery end-supported in proximity to said surfaced part and adapted toengage said .elevations during the rotation of said table. l

5K. ,In an apparatus of the' class described, the combination of a mold,a reciprocating plunger adapted to coperate therewith, an

4. lIn an apparatus of the class described,l ,the combination of arotary table provided with a series of molds, a surfaced part spejectorcarried by the mold, and means for [the return stroke of the latter theproduct is connecting the plunger and ejector whereby held in contacttherewith while being rethe product is held 1n engagement with the movedfrom the mold. former While being ejected. In Witness whereof, I havehereunto set 5 h6. In lan apparatus of the ic!lasshcilescribeldl, myhand this 22nd day of July, 1904. t e com ination o a series o -mo s, ayie able reciprocating plunger adapted to cop- HENRY GEISENHONER' cratesuccessively therewith, an ejector car'- Witnesses: ried by each mold,and means for connecting BENJAMIN B. HULL, 10 said ejectors with saidplunger whereby upon HELEN ORFORD.

